Hizb, DeM pay tributes to slain militants

Srinagar: The militant outfit Hizbul Mujhadeen and Dukhtartan-e-Millat (DeM) Thursday paid tributes to scholar turned militant commander Manan Wani and his associate killed in an encounter with the government forces in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
The Hizb operational spokesperson – Burhanuddin told news agency, CNS that “the death of highly qualified youth Manan Wani is very painful”.
Burahanuddin quoted Hizb chief as having said that people across Kashmir protested and expressed resentment over the killing of Manan Wani. “It shows how people of Kashmir are deeply attached to the Kashmir cause,” he said.
The DeM spokesperson Rifat Fatima in a statement said: “He (Manan) was a scholar at AMU, a writer and an orator par excellence. Degrees and awards hold no relevance to youth of Kashmir as they hold their freedom dearer than everything else.”
She said: “Gone are the days when New Delhi used to claim that Kashmir issue is about employment or education.”
She further said that people have already the elections, and “the so-called slogans of development have no takers in Kashmir”.